SEED Evaluator

Case Studies - Presentation Boards

The purpose of this assignment is to identify and research significant issues in public interest design, become familiar with successful completed projects, and document your findings and analysis/conclusions for future reference. Additional goals are to teach each other through in-class presentations of the findings and by engaging in professional discourse.

Working individually, select a pair of public interest design projects to study, compare, contrast, document, and present in graphic and written.

For this case study comparison, two projects grounded in social equity were chosen. While both projects are located in different parts of the world, involve different scales, and different stages of completion, the thread they have in common is the powerful impact potential they have in both the community and the environment that surrounds them. The Gita Primary School and the Vertical University both have developed models that declare their ability to not only promote education and community involvement, but community improvement and sustainable practices that reduces the environmental impact of the projects into sensitive landscapes. By analyzing each component of the projects, measurements and analysis will bring to light the true impact of these projects.

Gita Primary School is a completed education center located in a small community outside Kampala, Uganda. Thirty-one million children in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have a school to attend. Only 21% of students in Uganda finish primary school and 85% of the children at a 3rd grade level do not know how to read, write, or do math at a second grade level. Building Tomorrow (BT) has trained and sent out Ugandan college graduates to return to their country to make a difference in the lives of the children there. To date, BT has influenced the education of over 6,000 primary age children. Other stakeholders for this project include Building Tomorrow, Inc. (BT) supported by the University of Virginia’s Studio reCover, EiC Engineering Students, and the Ugandan Ministry of Education.

The Vertical University is a conceptual preservation proposal with six nodes that stretches across Nepal from Koshi Tappu at 228 feet above sea level to Lelep at 28,169 feet above sea level. Because of rapid development in Nepal, the indigenous lifestyles and species of the region are being lost. Between 1990 and 2005, Nepal has lost 1.2 million hectares of forest; that is one-fourth of its overall forest cover. Many of the endangered mammals, birds, plants, reptiles, and amphibians on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUNC) Red list are in Nepal. In 2012, 90% of the bird migratory numbers had declined, it is estimated that as many as half a million natural springs may be in the process of drying, explosive fishing practices is causing severe harm to freshwater ecosystem, along with poaching and illegal trade of species that is contributing to the local extinction of the rural areas of Nepal. Other stakeholders for this project include Cornell University, Oxfam USA, the Atkins Center for a Sustainable Future, and the Phul Maya Foundation and the local farmers and indigenous people who solely possess the vast knowledge of the species in the region.

The increasing educational challenges in Nepal shines a light on the global trend of moving away from rural life to a more urban or international existence. The little education that is possible about rural life in Nepal is handicapped by the classroom setting and the agrarian lifestyle of the student. Biodiversity, indigenous knowledge, and direct interactions with the focus of study are being lost. The Vertical University empowers the local farmers and indigenous people, who have intricate knowledge of the climate, flora, fauna, and lifestyle of the region, to become the teachers who will pass on this rich culture.

Only student chosen to be featured in upcoming publication.

SEED Evaluator

Case Studies - Presentation Boards

The purpose of this assignment is to identify and research significant issues in public interest design, become familiar with successful completed projects, and document your findings and analysis/conclusions for future reference. Additional goals are to teach each other through in-class presentations of the findings and by engaging in professional discourse.

Working individually, select a pair of public interest design projects to study, compare, contrast, document, and present in graphic and written.

For this case study comparison, two projects grounded in social equity were chosen. While both projects are located in different parts of the world, involve different scales, and different stages of completion, the thread they have in common is the powerful impact potential they have in both the community and the environment that surrounds them. The Gita Primary School and the Vertical University both have developed models that declare their ability to not only promote education and community involvement, but community improvement and sustainable practices that reduces the environmental impact of the projects into sensitive landscapes. By analyzing each component of the projects, measurements and analysis will bring to light the true impact of these projects.

Gita Primary School is a completed education center located in a small community outside Kampala, Uganda. Thirty-one million children in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have a school to attend. Only 21% of students in Uganda finish primary school and 85% of the children at a 3rd grade level do not know how to read, write, or do math at a second grade level. Building Tomorrow (BT) has trained and sent out Ugandan college graduates to return to their country to make a difference in the lives of the children there. To date, BT has influenced the education of over 6,000 primary age children. Other stakeholders for this project include Building Tomorrow, Inc. (BT) supported by the University of Virginia’s Studio reCover, EiC Engineering Students, and the Ugandan Ministry of Education.

The Vertical University is a conceptual preservation proposal with six nodes that stretches across Nepal from Koshi Tappu at 228 feet above sea level to Lelep at 28,169 feet above sea level. Because of rapid development in Nepal, the indigenous lifestyles and species of the region are being lost. Between 1990 and 2005, Nepal has lost 1.2 million hectares of forest; that is one-fourth of its overall forest cover. Many of the endangered mammals, birds, plants, reptiles, and amphibians on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUNC) Red list are in Nepal. In 2012, 90% of the bird migratory numbers had declined, it is estimated that as many as half a million natural springs may be in the process of drying, explosive fishing practices is causing severe harm to freshwater ecosystem, along with poaching and illegal trade of species that is contributing to the local extinction of the rural areas of Nepal. Other stakeholders for this project include Cornell University, Oxfam USA, the Atkins Center for a Sustainable Future, and the Phul Maya Foundation and the local farmers and indigenous people who solely possess the vast knowledge of the species in the region.

The increasing educational challenges in Nepal shines a light on the global trend of moving away from rural life to a more urban or international existence. The little education that is possible about rural life in Nepal is handicapped by the classroom setting and the agrarian lifestyle of the student. Biodiversity, indigenous knowledge, and direct interactions with the focus of study are being lost. The Vertical University empowers the local farmers and indigenous people, who have intricate knowledge of the climate, flora, fauna, and lifestyle of the region, to become the teachers who will pass on this rich culture.